Pre twitter-tweets

There is something special about the way that my cousins and I can get together, love each other intensely, imbibe quite intensely, laugh intensely, spend every waking moment together until out time ends, then hug and go our separate ways. After each time I see them, I wonder when I will be back in Texas and if I am, if I'd ever be able to spend more time with them than I do now? We got together for my cousin Rhonda's birthday last weekend and enjoyed more fun than it seems we have at any preceding gather. Of course, we said the same thing at the annual reunion my uncle threw a few weeks before that, and the same thing the year before...

I guess for the time being, I have to be thankful for the free time that I can earn from work in Los Angeles that provides for me to travel all over the country, including back home to see my family. I have to be thankful for the cousin and uncle and aunts and grandmother, who, over the years have made happy memories of large extended family gatherings in classic Ogg-fashion. I will not forget the smell of Mo's talcom powder as I sat by her feet at Christmas parties, and I will not forget the warm evenings in Marble Falls where washer clink late into the night. I will not forget the whistle that Scott uses to announce his arrival, and the excitement I get knowing that he is only one of many to follow. Scott and I decided this was the pre-Twitter, tweet. The only tweet I need to know that my cousin is near. I was the baby for 16 years, and it shows. I admire, applaud and cherish my cousins and aunts and uncles who have guided me through life and helped prepare me to be the woman I am. I was the a chippering canary singing for your love and attention, and just as Jonathan challenged his special flock, you obliged my heart.

Most recently, thank you Jhn, for filling your home and your heart with the flutter of your family! We are all tweeting your praise!